Up to 1,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to Texas-Mexico border, governor says

Reps. Frullo, Perry support military move

Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a news conference in the Governor's press room, Monday, July 21, 2014, in Austin, Texas. Gov. Perry announced he is deploying up to 1,000 National Guard troops over the next month to the Texas-Mexico border to combat criminals that Republican state leaders say are exploiting a surge of children and families entering the U.S. illegally. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are loaded on to a van, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Granjeno, Texas. At least six local, state and federal law enforcement agencies patrol the five mile zone which is illegal immigration's busiest corridor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Granjeno, Texas. At least six local, state and federal law enforcement agencies patrol the five mile zone which is illegal immigration's busiest corridor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Granjeno, Texas. At least six local, state and federal law enforcement agencies patrol the five mile zone which is illegal immigration's busiest corridor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Granjeno, Texas. At least six local, state and federal law enforcement agencies patrol the five mile zone which is illegal immigration's busiest corridor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Granjeno, Texas. At least six local, state and federal law enforcement agencies patrol the five mile zone which is illegal immigration's busiest corridor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Up to 1,000 Texas National Guard troops could soon be headed south to beef up the state’s border security and provide additional support to the continuing efforts of Operation Strong Safety.

On Monday, Gov. Rick Perry activated the troops to deploy along the Texas-Mexico border.

The military units will support the Texas Department of Public Safety’s ongoing law enforcement surge focused on combating criminal activity in the region, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

“There can be no national security without border security, and Texans have paid too high a price for the federal government’s failure to secure our border,” Perry said in a statement. “The action I am ordering today will tackle this crisis head-on by multiplying our efforts to combat the cartel activity, human traffickers and individual criminals who threaten the safety of people across Texas and America.”

The state-funded border surge could cost an estimated $12 million a month, but both state Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock, and state Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, hope the federal government will ultimately get the bill.

“I would think that is a federal reimbursement that we would push hard for, and justifiably so,” Rep. Perry said. “I think we will see it coming from the general revenue side with it ultimately being repaid by the federal government once our case was made that that was their job.”

Prior to the activation of the National Guard troops, state leaders authorized DPS to increase border security for about $1.3 million a week, according to the governor’s office.

“Texas can’t afford to wait for Washington to act on this crisis and we will not sit idly by while the safety and security of our citizens are threatened,” Gov. Perry said in a statement. “Until the federal government recognizes the danger it’s putting our citizens in by its inaction to secure the border, Texas law enforcement must do everything they can to keep our citizens and communities safe.”

The state has paid more than half a billion dollars securing the border, according to Frullo’s estimates.

In the end, the money has to be spent, he said.

“The first and most important thing that we have to do is we have to secure the border,” Frullo said. “Until we secure the border, we can’t really control anything else. And, of course, we are going to do that by spending more money and putting boots on the ground.”

Since 2008, more than 203,000 undocumented immigrants have been booked into Texas county jails and have committed an estimated 640,000 crimes, according to the news release.

“If the federal government is not going to do what they are charged to do, and that’s protect us against foreign and domestic enemies, I don’t think the state has the luxury of waiting on the federal government to do something that they’ve shown no interest in doing,” Rep. Perry said.

From week one to week three of Operation Strong Safety, the apprehension of undocumented immigrants has dropped by 36 percent, from more than 6,600 per week to 4,200 per week in the area of operation, the news release said.

However, the ultimate authority of the National Guard troops is still unclear, Frullo said.

“Basically, what they are going to do is enhance security and work alongside border control and the DPS and help them in their work,” he said, noting he is unsure what soldiers will be authorized to do.

That’s the problem Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has with the governor’s plan.

“If the federal government won’t act, Texas must and will,” she said in a statement. “However, we should be deploying additional deputy sheriffs to the border like local law enforcement is calling for rather than Texas National Guard units who aren’t even authorized to make arrests.”

Instead, Davis is calling on Gov. Perry to convene an emergency legislative session to bolster the border patrol and law enforcement personnel “struggling to deal with the influx of individuals crossing (the) southern border.”

In a June 20 letter to Obama, Perry made several requests for help along the border, including 1,000 National Guard troops, additional helicopters and giving troops “arrest powers to support Border Patrol operations until sufficient Border Patrol resources can be hired, trained and deployed to the border,” according to The Associated Press.

It’s not clear why the governor would need the Obama administration to authorize arrest powers, and the governor’s office has not offered details ahead of the announcement. Texas law simply states the governor can “adopt rules and regulations governing enlistment, organization, administration” of the Texas State Guard, the AP reported.

In a White House letter to Perry dated July 7, Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett laid out steps the administration was taking to deal with what the president had called an “urgent humanitarian situation,” but did not mention the National Guard. Obama met with Perry two days later in Dallas, and the administration has worked with Mexico and other countries the immigrants are leaving to make it clear they will not be allowed to stay in the U.S., according to the AP.

On previous border deployments, National Guard soldiers have served in support roles — administrative, intelligence gathering — while the Border Patrol expanded its ranks. Some National Guard troops already participate in counter-drug operations on the border, though they don’t have arrest powers, according to the AP.

Since October, more than 57,000 unaccompanied children and teenagers have entered the U.S. illegally — more than double compared to the same period a year earlier. Most have been from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, where rampant gang violence and intense poverty have driven tens of thousands of people outside their borders, an AP report said.

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Quick someone call Obama and tell him to turn on his TV and let him know not to worry anymore. There is finally something being done about this. Since he gets his news from the major news networks he needs to be made aware of this. Oops I forgot he was here in Texas recently and totally ignored the problem that we as Texans have to live with. Good job Governor Perry !

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra also told the McAllen Monitor that the Guard troops can’t make arrests and he didn’t know what their objective would be.

“The National Guard — they’re trained in warfare; they’re not trained in law enforcement,” he said. “I need to find out what their actual role is going to be, but I think the money would be better spent giving local law enforcement more funds.”

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." Jonathan Swift "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." Groucho Marx

"..The deployment will cost Texas an estimated $12 million a month. Texas Adjutant General John Nichols said his troops would simply be "referring and deterring" immigrants and not detaining people — though Nichols said the National Guard could if asked..."

"...As governor, Perry is commander in chief of Texas military forces unless those forces have already been mobilized by the White House. But if Perry deploys National Guard troops it is up to Texas to pay for them, while an order from Obama would mean Washington picks up the tab..."

Perhaps if Perry hadn't been so nasty to President Obama and asked nicely, then Obama could have sent in the National Guard, Washington would have paid for it.

"Chicken Wing" is right, the Posse Comitatus Act withholds police powers from the National Guard when called out by and in control of a state governor. I'd like to see how they are going to handle a confrontation with illegals. Last time we had the military (marines) on our border it resulted in disaster at the Polvo crossing.

I don't think the Guard was what those in charge on the border asked for. If I recall, they asked for more people to process those "vicious" children and mothers who were quickly surrendering to law enforcement. They need HELP, more judges, places to stay, etc., not GUNS! Sending the National Guard instead of providing what they asked for is foolishness and wasteful.

Our guard member is already in Afghanistan, so his platoon/brigade is not available for the Texas border anyway.

That's what I said. Not sure what the AJ's policy is on removing comments when they update an article.

We could use 1000 more judicial officers and judges to expedite the hearing process. The National Guard is trained for warfare, not law enforcement or the judicial process. The Guard is subject to the same federal law that the Border Patrol is in that they would only have to accept these children as the law states. Not aim rifles at them or shoot them.

Perry is ridiculous. If he wants to raise his National profile for 2016, he shouldn't be doing it at tax payer expense. Border officials are shrugging their shoulders.

The only national issue that Gov Perry can ride to the White House is "border security." No other GOP candidate is in that position or has that claimed expertise.

Neat thing is, for Perry, is that he can deploy the Guard at public expense and not have to pay for the headlines out of his campaign funds.

There were already indications that the flow of would-be immigrants was slowing. If Perry sat and did nothing to grab public attention, then he loses the campaign issue he hung his hat on. So he activates a handful of National Guard troops for a token presence on the border. If the downward trend continues, he can claim credit.

It's risky.

First off, it appears the Guard will have no legal power to arrest anyone or to do more than stand around. If they are issued live ammo and if they are there for long, there's a fair chance something will go wrong, they'll shoot one another or bystanders or a child, and all this will backfire.

And a thousand troops is nearly meaningless except for getting Perry onto the front page. The Texas-Mexico border is nearly 1200 miles long. Assuming an 8-hour shift, that means one National Guardsman per 3 miles of border. Good luck on that.

So it's a PR stunt for the Perry for President Campaign and little more. The Guardsmen can stand around in little clusters in Brownsville and Laredo and opposite Ciudad Acuna and in El Paso and get photographed for stories on Gov Perry.

Right now there are a bit more than 22,000 Border Patrol agents -- for ALL borders. There is a little more than 10 Border Patrol agents in the whole USA for every single mile of the 2000 mile border with Mexico, and most are clumped at entry highways or work in the interior. Totally insufficient. Tell Congress.

We need to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by 10 times to "secure the border." Fat chance of getting that through Congress. Hasn't worked so far.

Perry just added millions more in cost with the deployment of the National Guard. That won't change the cost of detention centers and it won't change the law. It won't change what is happening in Central America. The National Guard seems more appropriate for handling the violence in Central America than standing around at the border while the crisis continues. And I'm not suggesting sending military to Central America.

Federal Tax dollars at the border? Sure, given that there are many more blue states that are donor states than red states, progressive states have been paying there fair share for decades supporting regressive red states. The union is littered with red state moochers who take more from the federal government than they pay. By far, red states, typically, are unable to govern themselves and create economies that work for everyone.

While our donor state status is made possible with oil revenues, it ranks 9th highest in poverty. Thank you, geography.

Obama has deported more undocumented immigrants than any other President and he has supplied more border security than any other president. If the GOP wants more border security, they will pass the supplemental. If the GOP doesn't like the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, they will vote to close the loophole.

I am writing a comment at the moment. That is doing something. In fact, pointing out the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 is more effective than the 1000 National Guard troops given that they are also subject to it.

I am a better Gov than Perry because what I did makes sense and I didn't cost the tax payer 12 million a month for my 2016 campaign.

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." Jonathan Swift "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." Groucho Marx

I used to favor using the military to interdict drugs coming in at the borders. That was back in the 1980s. Idea was to give the standing military something useful to do; we're paying them, why not use them for police work? Might be useful training too.

There are reasons why that wasn't done.

One reason was political/diplomatic. Putting troops on a border can really offend the country on the other side.

Another is that the mission is so different. Some military personnel are trained killers, and you don't want to blunt their reactions and risk the public by using them in a police role. (Why teach a trained attack dog to herd sheep? You may end up with a ruined attack dog and dead sheep.)

The Texas National Guard are hardly trained attack dogs. The National Guard has come a long way since George W. Bush forgot to go back to his unit and his superiors forgot he was part of the unit. A long way since Kent State when National Guardsmen lost control and shot wildly, killing three students who were not even demonstrators. But...

National Guard units activated for deployment to the Middle East underwent months of training before heading overseas. What training are these thousand National Guardsmen going to get? Are they going to have live ammo? That would be a concern if they have it and one if they don't. Arguably only the president can authorize the issuance of live ammo to Guardsmen on the border.